JohnsonChris
New member
I apologise in advance for this long rant, this started off as a five line answer, but cmc has really made me think about this whole situation.
My thoughts are that we have to take the problems into perspective - the way I look at it - FiatForum's primary role is to discuss issues with the Fiat range. If you went to an Alfa forum, a citroen forum even a ford forum .... you'll see the same thing, people with problems with their cars. I don't expect the issues described here to be present on every Stilo, Punto and Idea out on the road .... it's just that those same issues are concentrated here and often it can blur what we think about the manufacturer.
I never bought my Stilo expecting it to be plain sailing. To be honest, as annoying as the fault is, my real issue, the thing that really get's to me is the appauling customer service, the lack of information that seems to be passed from Fiat HQ, through to to it's independant dealers and more importantly within their own dealer network.
As a customer of Fiat my only "Ownership Experience" is my local dealer. They are the people I go to for servicing, help and support. I would be the first to stick my hand in the air and say I depend on my car, for that reason I need to know that my dealer will be genuinly interested in supporting an existing car/customer, and not simply focussing down on shifting new/used cars. If I had bought the car from a non-franchised dealer then fine, selling cars is what those businesses do. But not a franchised dealer, simply .... they are Fiat.
From reading through these messages, many of the faults described are regular faults. Seen numerous times by numerous owners. Fiat should take this into account, I'm sure they have superb engineers in their HQ, my advise ..... use them, or use them better. Make the information they have available to the dealer network. Push out quality control, enforce proper standards between dealers. And more importantly, take a step to establishing key dealerships through the country, these dealerships should be the flagships. They should carry key excellance in all areas - engineering, sales, marketing, service and parts. These hubs should be who all other UK dealerships should talk to, and in turn, these key dealerships must have strong direct relationships with FiatHQ. Only by building customer service and support is the brand of Fiat going to improve.
Look at the motoring reviews - read them but take out the comments about "Questionable Reliability", you're left with a very competitive brand, that deserves a better reputation.
From a personal point, I have phoned my dealer with a serious fault on the gearbox, something which has me personally worried, my dealer has not chosen to phone me back, despite two follow up calls and a voicemail. I would bet my car, if I phoned up asking for a call back becuase I was looking at buying a new car - I'd have a call back in 10 minutes.
Again, apologies for the rant.
Chris
My thoughts are that we have to take the problems into perspective - the way I look at it - FiatForum's primary role is to discuss issues with the Fiat range. If you went to an Alfa forum, a citroen forum even a ford forum .... you'll see the same thing, people with problems with their cars. I don't expect the issues described here to be present on every Stilo, Punto and Idea out on the road .... it's just that those same issues are concentrated here and often it can blur what we think about the manufacturer.
I never bought my Stilo expecting it to be plain sailing. To be honest, as annoying as the fault is, my real issue, the thing that really get's to me is the appauling customer service, the lack of information that seems to be passed from Fiat HQ, through to to it's independant dealers and more importantly within their own dealer network.
As a customer of Fiat my only "Ownership Experience" is my local dealer. They are the people I go to for servicing, help and support. I would be the first to stick my hand in the air and say I depend on my car, for that reason I need to know that my dealer will be genuinly interested in supporting an existing car/customer, and not simply focussing down on shifting new/used cars. If I had bought the car from a non-franchised dealer then fine, selling cars is what those businesses do. But not a franchised dealer, simply .... they are Fiat.
From reading through these messages, many of the faults described are regular faults. Seen numerous times by numerous owners. Fiat should take this into account, I'm sure they have superb engineers in their HQ, my advise ..... use them, or use them better. Make the information they have available to the dealer network. Push out quality control, enforce proper standards between dealers. And more importantly, take a step to establishing key dealerships through the country, these dealerships should be the flagships. They should carry key excellance in all areas - engineering, sales, marketing, service and parts. These hubs should be who all other UK dealerships should talk to, and in turn, these key dealerships must have strong direct relationships with FiatHQ. Only by building customer service and support is the brand of Fiat going to improve.
Look at the motoring reviews - read them but take out the comments about "Questionable Reliability", you're left with a very competitive brand, that deserves a better reputation.
From a personal point, I have phoned my dealer with a serious fault on the gearbox, something which has me personally worried, my dealer has not chosen to phone me back, despite two follow up calls and a voicemail. I would bet my car, if I phoned up asking for a call back becuase I was looking at buying a new car - I'd have a call back in 10 minutes.
Again, apologies for the rant.
Chris
